Josep Escolà Segalés (28 August 1914 – 7 March 1998), also referred to as José Escolà, was a Spanish footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He spent most of his club career at

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. Escolà also played for both

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and the Catalan XI. After retiring as player in 1948, Escolà managed

CF Badalona Club de Fútbol Badalona () is a Spanish football team based in Badalona, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903 it plays in Tercera Federación – Group 5, temporarily holding home games at Estadi Municipal de Badalona, with ...

CE Sabadell FC Centre d'Esports Sabadell Futbol Club, S.A.D. () is a Spanish football team based in Sabadell, a city in the province of Barcelona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1903, it plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holdi ...

CD Castellón Club Deportivo Castellón, S.A.D. is a professional Spanish football team based in Castellón de la Plana, in the Valencian Community. Founded on 20 July 1922, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''No ...

and

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

Playing career

Club

FC Barcelona

Born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

, Escolà made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

debut for

under

Franz Platko Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

on 2 December 1934 and scored the fourth goal in a 4-0 win against

Arenas Club de Getxo Arenas Club de Getxo is a Spanish football club based in the town of Getxo, near Bilbao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1909, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at Campo Mu ...

at ''Les Corts''. During his debut season with the club, he helped them win the

Campionat de Catalunya The Catalan football championship ''(Campionat de Catalunya)'' was a football competition in Catalonia and the first football league in Spain before La Liga was established in 1929. In December 1900, Alfons Macaya, the president of Hispania AC, ...

. Under Platko’s successor, Patrick O'Connell, and with a team that also included

Domènec Balmanya Domènec Balmanya i Perera (; 29 December 1914 – 14 February 2002), also referred to as Domingo Balmaña, was a former Spanish football midfielder and manager who spent most of his playing career at FC Barcelona. As a manager, he guided CF Barc ...

, Joan Josep Nogués and Enrique Fernández, he helped the club win a further Campionat de Catalunya and reach the

1936 Copa del Presidente de la República Final The 1936 Copa del Presidente de la República Final decided the winner of the 1936 Copa del Presidente de la República, the 36th staging of Spain's premier football cup, now known as the Copa del Rey. The final was the last one before the tourna ...

. Barça played Madrid CF and with the Madrid club leading 2-1, Escolà was denied a late equalizer after a spectacular save by

Ricardo Zamora Ricardo Zamora Martínez (; 14 February 1901 – 8 September 1978) was a Spanish footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper for, among others, RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for both the Catala ...

Civil War and Exile

During the following season, 1936–37, national football was suspended because of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. However

and other clubs in the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

area of

competed in the

Mediterranean League The Mediterranean League, also referred to as the Lliga Mediterrània ( ''Catalan''), the Liga Mediterránea ( ''Spanish'') or La Liga del Mediterráneo, was a football league played in the Republican area of Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The ...

and Escolà, Balmanya and O’Connell helped the club win this title. In 1937

, including Escolà, Balmanya and O’Connell, went on a fund raising tour to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The club played fourteen games and opponents included

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

Atlante F.C. Atlante Fútbol Club, is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. Founded in 1916, Atlante were original members of the Mexican Primera División when it began in 1943. Atlante has won three national league championships, two ...

Necaxa Impulsora del Deportivo Necaxa S.A. de C.V. (); often simply known as Necaxa, is a Mexican professional football club in Liga MX based in the city of Aguascalientes. It plays in the Estadio Victoria. History Foundation (Light and Power Comp ...

and a Mexican XI. In the

, FC Barcelona played in and won a tournament against a ''Brooklyn XI'', a ''New York XI'' and a ''Hebrew XI'' and then played a USA XI. In financial terms this tour saved the club, but O’Connell returned to

with only four players. The remaining players went into exile and Escolà and Balmanya signed for

FC Sète FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

FC Barcelona

After the

ended in 1939,

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

imposed a six-year ban on any exiled sportsmen returning to Spain. However Enrique Piñeyro, the president of

CF Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded i ...

, campaigned in favour of several of the club’s players and Escolà and Balmanya returned from exile in 1941. During their first season back, Barça, with Joan Josep Nogués now as coach, narrowly avoided being relegated after winning a play-off against

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

. Despite this however the club managed to win the

Copa del Generalísimo The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

, with Escolà scoring their two opening goals, as they beat

Atlético Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

4–3 after extra time. In 1943 Escolà also played in the controversial

semi-final against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. During the first-leg at ''Les Corts'', which Barça won 3–0, he was severely kicked in the stomach and had to retire from the game. In the return leg they were beaten 11–1 at the ''Charmartín''. It has been alleged that the Barça players, including Escolà, were pressurised into losing the game by supporters of

. However, the historian Bernardo Salazar interviewed both Escolà and Balmanya, who were part of the squad back then, and both denied these facts. Towards the end of Escolà’s playing career with

, the squad was reinforced with among others,

Mariano Martín Mariano Martín Alonso (20 October 1919 – 9 September 1998) was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. Club career Martín was born in Dueñas, Palencia. After his beginnings with Peña Font, already in Barcelona, he joined FC Barcelo ...

Josep Gonzalvo Josep is a Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, cartoonist and w ...

Marià Gonzalvo Mariano Gonzalvo Falcón (22 March 1922 – 7 April 2007), also referred to as Gonzalvo III or – especially as of late – by the Catalan rendition of his given name, Marià Gonzalvo, was a Spanish footballer who spent most of his career at FC ...

, César, Velasco and later,

Estanislao Basora Estanislau Basora Brunet (also Estanislao; 18 November 1926 – 16 March 2012) was a Spanish footballer who played as a winger or striker. Most of his 15-year career was spent at FC Barcelona for which he appeared in more than 300 official ga ...

and

Antoni Ramallets Antoni Ramallets Simón (1 July 1924 – 30 July 2013) was a Spanish football goalkeeper and manager. He spent most of his career at FC Barcelona, during the 1950s and early 1960s, winning the Ricardo Zamora Trophy as the best goalkeeper in ...

. In his last years with the club, Escolà helped Barça win

twice, under coach

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish Association football, football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, ...

in 1945 and under coach Enrique Fernández in 1948.

International

Between 1931 and 1948, Escolà also played 10 games and scored twice for the Catalan XI. The first of his two goals was scored in a 2–1 win against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at ''Les Corts'' on 17 June 1934. He also played twice for

, both times against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Both games finished as 2–2 draws and Escolà scored on his debut on 12 January 1941. The second game was played on 11 March 1945.

Honours

Player

Barcelona *

: 1944–45, 1947–48 *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

; runner-up:

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

: 1937 *

: 1934–35, 1935–36

Manager

Levante *

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

: 1955–56

Club statistics

*Continental includes the Catalan Championship and the Copa de Oro Argentina.

Sources

* ''Barça: A People’s Passion'' (1998), Jimmy Burns

External links

Spain stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Escola, Josep 1914 births 1998 deaths Spanish footballers Spanish football managers Spanish expatriate footballers Spain international footballers La Liga players FC Barcelona players FC Sète 34 players CE Sabadell FC managers CD Castellón managers Levante UD managers Footballers from Barcelona Expatriate footballers in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Catalonia international footballers Association football forwards UE Sants players RCD Espanyol footballers